Topic Based Curriculum

At Cherry Tree School, we are developing our Topic Based Curriculum. We thought that parents might be curious about what topic-based education is, why we find it beneficial, and what it looks like from day to day.

A topic based curriculum means that each skill area of the curriculum is connected to a topic. This could be a half term or whole term topic.

We know that research shows that learning is an integrated process, and that topic-based education is beneficial in several ways. Children of all ages benefit from the connections made across the curriculum. Rather than teaching each skill or topic in isolation children are encouraged to see that at different times of the day or through different subjects we can learn about different aspects of a larger topic. In turn, this helps pupils see connections and start to make their own connections from one experience to another. It also helps pupils become creative in their thinking.

At Cherry Tree we also used a topic based curriculum because it gives the teachers the flexibility to follow children’s interests and extend or shorten the time spent on a topic based on the level of student interest. Our teachers have the experience and flexibility to build topics based on the interests of the particular group of pupils, while teaching age appropriate skills. Another great reason to use topic based learning is that different age groups can have a shared theme and then work across age groups. This can then be used to build community.